Saria's New Song
by Fruity-Fruit-Cups
Summary: Saria reminiscences about her friendship with Link.


A quick note; the italicized parts are flashbacks/memories. The normal parts are happening in Saria's present.  


* * *

It had been a long time since she last saw him. 10, or 20, or maybe 50 years. It was hard for her to tell when she's been alive for so long. 500 years maybe? Or was it 400?

The days seemed like seconds, the weeks like hours, and the years like days. It flies by so fast. By the time she realized it, it was too late.

She often forget how long she had been alive, but his time with her was so much easier to remember.

They were friends for ten years. When he first came to the forest, no one knew what to do with him. Finally the Great Deku Tree decided that one of the Kokiri -along with him- would take care of the child until it was old enough to take care of itself.

_He had chosen her. She still remembered his voice. She admired how it boomed through the woods: loud enough for everyone to hear but gentle enough so the ones near him wouldn't have their hearing damaged. _

_ "Saria," he had said, his mighty voice carrying for miles, "out of all of the Kokiri, I know thy would be the one best suited to watch over this child."_

_ She remembered how she looked up at him, wondering why he had chosen her. "O Great Deku Tree, I am honored that you believe that I would be able to take care of this child. But I do not believe I can."_

_ He seemed to smile at the girl. "Saria, thy have a caring soul. Believe in thyself; and thee will be able to."_

_ She bowed to her guardian. Her father figure. "I will do it, Great Deku Tree. Thank you."_

Even though it was just a memory, she gasped as she remembered the huge branch lowering itself down to her._  
_

_In the branch was an infant, no more than two weeks old. The infant was sleeping peacefully, not aware of what was happening in the world around it._

_ "Great Deku Tree, what is this infant's name?"_

_ The mighty tree seemed to stop moving as he decided on a name. "His name shall be Link."_

* * *

_When Link was still an infant, Saria watched over him constantly. He slept in her wooden hut, much to her best friend Mido's displeasure. Occasionally he would tell her that she was getting too attached to the 'freak,' but she always ignored his comments. _

_ If anything, they were the freaks. This infant was one of the Hylians; the race that dominated the rest of the land. They were the Kokiri; kept away from the rest of the world. While the other races would grow old and die, the Kokiri would forever live as children._

_ As Link grew older, Saria helped him build his own hut. He was four at the time._

She smiled when she thought about how nervous he was when first telling her how he wanted his hut. 

_He wanted to build it above the ground, to make it unique. She had happily helped him build it._

A_s Link grew older, he started to feel like an outcast. He was the only Kokiri in the entire village who didn't have a fairy. Saria tried to comfort him, but it was __never enough to shield him from Mido's insults. He called Link a freak whenever he got the chance to.  
_

_ Everyone knew about Link's true identity, but the Great Deku Tree had told them never to reveal it to him. So they didn't. The others treated him like a normal Kokiri child, except for Mido. Several times Saria had cut him off when he would start to say that Link wasn't a real Kokiri._

_ Saria wondered why Mido was so jealous of Link. Sadly, she had to admit that Link had become her best friend. Mido was still her friend, but Link was special._

She could even say that she loved him.

_She shared everything with Link, as he did with her. There were no secrets between them. They were as close as close could get. He was the only person who she had ever taught her song to. The others recognized it when she played it, but only Link was allowed to learn how to play it, which -of course- made Mido furious._

_ Then came that fateful day. Deep down she knew it would come but the rest of her refused to acknowledge it. When he had gotten his own fairy, she cheered for him. Though as she congratulated him, her heart sank down into her stomach. He would be gone soon.

* * *

_

Tears started to stream down her face as the memories from the day he left started to come forward.

_Later that day, the Great Deku Tree died. Everyone cried, but not as much as Link when he stumbled out of the clearing, covered in blood and yellow goo. Mido accused him of killing the Great Deku Tree, while the others watched on in silence._

_ Saria was the only one who came to Link's side. She took him away as he cried into her shoulder, covering her in the same things that clung to his tunic._

_ After the had both cleaned themselves up, Saria turned around to face him. She was going to invite him to play in the Lost Woods with her so they could take their minds off of the grief that was tearing them apart._

_ But he was gone._

Saria was crying harder now, her sobs echoing through the Lost Woods, her tears falling down onto the stump she sat on.

_She looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found. She was afraid that was would leave the forest. Leave her._

_ So she went to the very edge of the woods. She waited at the very last bridge that supposedly led out to the land of Hyrule._

_ Saria was right. Within an hour, the boy was dashing past her. "You're leaving, aren't you?" Her voice caused him to stop and look at her._

_ He couldn't leave. She didn't want him to. He was her best friend; the person she cared about the most. _

_ "The Great Deku Tree..." he muttered._

_ "It's not your fault! You would never kill him!" she shouted._

_ "No, he was poisoned and I killed the thing that had hurt him. But he told me that I was a chosen one. That I have to find the Princess of Hyrule. I didn't believe him, but then he gave me this." He reached into his knapsack and pulled out a huge green gem. The Kokiri's sacred treasure._

_ She gasped, then looked down. If he gave him that, then it was true. She couldn't stop him. But she couldn't bear the thought of him forgetting her._

_ She had to give him something to remember her by. She looked around, then down at her Ocarina. She had spent months perfecting it. All of the days looking for the correct plants to paint it. The dozens of times she had to remake it because of one tiny flaw._

_ Saria held the Ocarina up, then held it out to him. "Take it," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking._

_ Link looked down at it. "But...This is your prized Ocarina. I can't take it!"_

_ She smiled at him, now unable to hold back the tears. She thought she had cried away all of her tears, but more were able to come. "No. Please, take it. And never forget me."_

_ He slowly took it. "Okay, I will." He carefully put it in his knapsack. "Bye Saria. I promise I'll come back!"_

She stopped to wipe her eyes, then looked down at her new Ocarina. She had tried to re-make her old Ocarina, but even after 50 tries, she had never managed to make it as good as her old one. Though if she was able to go back in time, she still would have given Link her Ocarina.

He had always been so sweet and nice. But he was gone. Where he was, she didn't know, but she did know that he was never coming back. But back then...

_He did come back. It had been a few months, but he kept his promise. For a few days, it was like old times. They had fun chasing each other through the forest. Saria couldn't be happier._

_ However, all good things must come to an end. He had to leave and continue his quest. She didn't want him to, but she knew he had to. Her own selfish wants weren't nearly as important as his quest. __If he succeeded__ he would__ save the entire country. If he stayed with her, she would be happy, but only for a little while. He was still not a Kokiri. He would grow old and die. Not to mention the fact that the evil Ganondorf would rule Hyrule. She didn't want to imagine what he would do to them._

_ They promised to stay in touch. Whenever he would play her song, they would be able to communicate through their fairies. They had tried it, and it worked like a charm._

_ Almost every day he would play the song just to talk to her. He would tell her all about his quest and what was happening. After a while, he started to talk about how he had gone through time. She was simply amazed. It didn't seem possible, but since it was Link, she believed him._

_ They did that for months. It wasn't the same as seeing him in person and talking to him, but it was enough. No matter what he was doing, he never forgot. Even if he was about to fight a huge monster, he still called._

_ One day he stopped calling her. She thought maybe he was really busy that day, so she thought nothing of it. Soon it turned into two days, then a week.

* * *

_

Saria sighed. She didn't know exactly how long it had been, but she knew it had been around seven years.

_He came back seven years later. He had changed. He was now towering over her. His voice had deepened. She didn't know what had happened to him. When she asked him, he simply laughed and said, "I grew up."_

_ Saria knew he hadn't come back just to say hi. He had come to get through the Forest Temple to awaken her as the Sage of the Forest (though she didn't know it at the time). He achieved his goal, and Saria became the Sage of the Forest._

_ She begged him to come back after he finished, but he simply shook his head. "It's not possible Saria... You'll always be my best friend. Goodbye," he said as he walked away. She could tell he didn't want to say that. He didn't want to leave her just as much as she didn't want him to leave._

_ But he could never stay. He had a different destiny; one that would lead him to great places. She couldn't get in the way of that, just like she couldn't years earlier._

_ That day she cried more than she thought was possible. Even more than the day the Great Deku Tree died. While the other children cheered and danced (for the Great Deku Tree had planted a seed that had just sprouted) Saria cried and cried._

_ For weeks she couldn't move. It's not that she couldn't, it's that she didn't want to. Mido came to look for her, but she knew he would never look where she was; in the Forest Temple. She wanted to chase after him; to find him and stay with him, but now she was a sage. She would never be able to leave the forest or else her power would weaken. Ganondorf would escape and everything Link did would be for nothing.  
_

Saria looked down at her Ocarina again. Tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes and she didn't want to cry again. So instead she played.

It wasn't her usual song. This song was different. It reflected her emotions: it would start off happy, then slowly descend into a sad tune before coming back up to its cheery start. Though at the end it crashed into a tune that cried and wailed, mirroring how she felt when he left. It was hard for others listening to it not to cry with the song.

"Saria?" She stopped when she heard someone call her name. Mido walked out into the clearing. "Hey Saria, it's dinnertime. Let's go."

Saria nodded, getting up from the stump she had been sitting on. She cast one look back towards the Forest Temple then turned to Mido. "Okay, let's go."

And together they walked back to the village, Mido completely oblivious of the tears Saria tried to fight away.

* * *

This was just a random one-shot I decided to write. A few days ago I thought of this idea and now here it is.

I didn't mean for it be be so sad originally, but as I was writing it I realized how horrible it must have been for Saria to lose her best friend. But it's also partly because I was extremely inspired by a different story I had thought of (and am currently debating whether or not I should put it here) that had a character with a similar fate to Saria. Plus I've been listening the the song "Already Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. It's really sad but its a beautiful song.

I hope you liked it. :) Read and review if you wish. ^^


End file.
